Colorado

After we pulled out of Grand Junction we continued along the river for a while. We passed a dam and some farmland. 

We even passed a school with the mountains behind them. 

Right before lunch we pulled into Glenwood Springs a few minutes early so we had time to get out and walk along the platform again. There were some big box stores tucked under the mountain. 

The stop also had a cute little station. 

I got back on the train and headed to the dining car for lunch. I was seated with the same couple from yesterday traveling to upstairs NY and an elderly man from Iowa. 

Once seated at my table I spotted a hotel with hot springs across the river. 

It's kind of hard to see but there was a big pool behind the hotel with a giant water slide and lots of people swimming. 

For lunch I had the cheeseburger. It was actually warm and juicy. The chef on this crew is actually pretty good and I continue to be pleasantly surprised. 

We continued along the river. There was a walking trail with lots of people on it running along the other side of the river and along the road. 

You will also notice that the river was down to a trickle at points. This is the mighty Colorado River so it seems to be a little disconcerting to see it so low. 

We passed a dam and then the river picked up a little. 

This little development was tucked between the mountain and the river. 

Above I noticed some cows grazing on the field. 

We pulled into Dell Canyon and started going slowly as we needed to wait for the westbound zephyr #5 on a siding. I saw a bald eagle fly by. This is a low canyon. 

You can sort of see the front of the train as we went along this curve. I noticed a little waterfall on this side. 

The conductor said that in the summer many people raft or canoe and that this spot underneath the tree is one of the best camp sites along the Colorado. 

We waited in the siding for about ten minutes before the westbound zephyr barreled past us in a blur. 

As we headed deeper into the mountains there was some more snow. 

We passed some more little ranches an farms. 

Then it got snowier. 

These guys were fishing. 

We continued through the canyons and the mountains. 

The train was hugging the cliff at this point and going very slowly. I turned on my scanner to find out what was up, and I heard the engineer of my train talking with dispatch. There are wires along the hills that are activated when there is a rockslide and they has gone off. We want slowly through the entire area but did not encounter any rocky debris on the tracks. 

We emerged from the canyon to beautiful  vistas. 

We proceeded at full speed towards out next stop of Granby, CO except now we were running a little late. 

We then headed into Beyera (deyers?) canyon and I heard on the scanner that the slide detector had gone off. We came to a halt as there were indeed some rocks in the way. Some staff members detained to check it out and see if they could move it. I heard the engineer speak with the dispatcher about the situation on my scanner. The dispatcher said she should send something out to help if necessary. 

I was about to bust out the Xanax when I heard the chatter on the scanner. The guys were able to move the rock out of the way and there was no dage to the rail. We proceeded at a SLOW speed through the slide area and continued on our way to Granby past the frozen river. 

We passed a clear signal, the conductor (Brad) said highball on the radio, and with some loud horns of the train we proceeded.